During fitness training rhythmic movements are performed inter alia. with arms and/or legs, for example by using cycle ergometers or exercise cycles with devices for arm and/or leg movement, during jogging during and training with rowing machines and the like.
Like running, such devices are suitable for the training of endurance fitness, which is an important for maintaining psychophysical well-being and the preservation of the cardio-vascular system. Good training effects are attained with a workload leading to a heart rate of about 70% of the individual maximal heart rate for a time of roughly 20 to 40 minutes. The perceived feelings of exertion and/or boredom often connected with such forms of training result in a dislike for such training.
The perception of discomfort can be reduced by training in time with rhythmic music. While doing so the practicing person adapts the tempo of each movement cycle to the music tempo in such a way that one movement cycle is accompanied by a definite number of musical beats. During such fitness training with musical accompaniment at a preset tempo, the practicing person has to focus a part of his attention on keeping time and, in case of deviation, has to keep adjusting the movement rhythm. This is necessary to attain fully the relieving pacemaker effect of the music and to reduce unpleasant feelings.
In recent years training with rhythmic music has been successfully used to improve motivation for training in "aerobics". Here the exercising person is able to adapt continuously the energy expenditure to his momentary well-being and performance capability by varying the intensity and extent of his movements. An individual variation of energy expenditure with exercise cycles is (with an unchanged load) possible by changing the pedalling rate. With devices that allow a frequency adjustment independents of workload, variations in rotational speed do not lead to variations in necessary effort, but may be felt as a pleasant change. In any case changing the tempo of movement cycles during training accompanied by music at a preset tempo leads to the beat being lost.
From German Patent Document DE-OS-2949 630 it is known that the speed of playing audiovisual presentations can be changed with the pedalling tempo on an exercise cycle, for instance by the use of a small roller sensor rotated by the flywheel. But with this procedure, it is quite impossible to allocate the beginning of prominent rhythm elements of the music or musical beats to phases of the movement cycles of the practicing person.